humility it
seemed to us, in a pamphlet written many years after the American War,
that it "had been his misfortune" on several occasions "not to have
perceived the reality and importance of a question _until it was at the
door_." This was very true. His noble enthusiasm for some good and vital
cause so engrossed him at times that the humble knocking at the door of
some other, perhaps equally vital question, was not heard by him. The
knocking necessarily became louder and louder, till at last the door was
opened; but then it may have been too late for him to take the part in
it which should have been his.

FOOTNOTE:

[Footnote 15: Speech of Mr. Drage, M.P., at Derby, December, 1899.]

V.

VISIT OF TRANSVAAL DELEGATES TO ENGLAND. THE LORD MAYOR'S REFUSAL
TO RECEIVE THEM AT THE MANSION HOUSE. DR. DALE'S LETTER TO MR.
GLADSTONE. MR. MACKENZIE IN ENGLAND. MEETINGS AND RESOLUTIONS ON
TRANSVAAL MATTERS. MANIFESTO OF BOER DELEGATES. SPEECHES OF W.E.
FORSTER, LORD SHAFTESBURY, SIR FOWELL BUXTON, AND OTHERS. THE
LONDON CONVENTION (1884).

In 1883, two years after the retrocession of the Transvaal, the Boers,
encouraged by the hesitating policy of the British Government, sent a
deputation to London of a few of their most astute statesmen, to put
fresh claims before Mr. Gladstone, and Lord Derby, then Colonial
Minister. They did not ask the repeal of the stipulations of the
Convention of 1881--that was hardly necessary, as these stipulations had
neither been observed by them nor enforced by our Government, but what
they desired and asked was the complete re-establishment of the
Republic, freed from any conditions of British Suzerainty. This would
have given them a free hand in dealing with the natives, a power which
those who knew them best were the least willing to concede.

Sir R.N. Fowler was at that time Lord Mayor of London. According to the
custom when any distinguished foreigners visit our Capital, of giving
them a reception at the Mansion House, these Transvaal delegates were
presented for that honour. But the door of the Mansion House was closed
to them, and by a Quaker Lord Mayor, renowned for his hospitality!

The explanation of this unusual act is given in the biography of Sir R.
Fowler, written by J.S. Flynn, (page 260.) The following extract from
that biography was sent to the _Friend_, the organ of the Society of
Friends, in November, 1899, by Dr. Hodgkin, himself a quaker, whose name
is known in the literary world:--"The scene of Sir R. Fowler's travels
in 1881 was South Africa, where he went chiefly for the purpose of
ascertaining how he could best serve the interests of the native
inhabitants. He left no stone unturned in his search for
information--visiting Sir Hercules Robinson, the Governor of the Cape,
Sir Theophilus Shepstone, Sir Evelyn Wood, Colonel Mitchell, Bishops
Colenso and Macrorie, the Zulu King Cetewayo, the principal statesmen,
the military, the newspaper editors, the workers at the diamond-fields,
and many others. The result of his inquiries was to confirm his belief
of the charges which were made against the Transvaal Boers of wronging
and oppressing the blacks.

"It was the opinion of many philanthropists that the only way to insure
good Government in the Transvaal--justice to the natives, the
suppression of slavery, the security of neighbouring tribes--was by
England's insisting on the Boer's observance of the Treaty which had
been made to this effect, and the delimitation of the boundary of their
territory in order to prevent aggression. With this object in view
meetings were held in the City, petitions presented by Members of
Parliament, resolutions moved in the House; and when at last it was
discovered that Mr. Gladstone's Government was unwilling to fulfil its
pledges in reference to South Africa, and that in consequence the native
inhabitants would not receive the support they had been led